Health And Safety Policy

HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY

JUNE 2008

Greens Mechanical Services 16 Castlefields Drive Rastrick Brighouse West Yorkshire HD6 3HS

_______________________________________________________________________________________

General Policy Statement It is the policy of Greens Mechanical Services to comply with the terms of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the legislation made under it and to provide and maintain a healthy and safe working environment. Greens Mechanical Services health and safety objective is to minimise the number of instances of occupational accidents and illnesses and ultimately to achieve an incident-free workplace. All employees will be provided with such equipment, information, training and supervision as are necessary to implement the policy and achieve the stated objective. Greens Mechanical Services recognise and accept their duty to protect the health and safety of all visitors to the company, including contractors and temporary workers, as well as any members of the public who might be affected by our operations. While the Directors of Greens Mechanical Services will do all that is within its powers to ensure the health and safety of its employees, it is recognised that health and safety at work is the responsibility of each and every individual associated with the Company. It is the duty of each employee to take reasonable care of their own and other people's welfare and to report any situation which may pose a threat to the well being of any other person. Greens Mechanical Services will ensure every employee has undergone the training necessary to carry out his or her tasks safely. However if an employee is unsure how to perform a certain task or feels it would be dangerous to perform a specific job then it is the employee's duty to report this to their supervisor. An effective health and safety programme requires continuous communication between workers at all levels. It is therefore every worker's responsibility to report immediately any situation, which could jeopardise the well being of themselves or any other person. All injuries, however small, sustained by a person at work must be reported. Accident records are crucial to the effective monitoring and revision of the policy and must therefore be accurate and comprehensive. Greens Mechanical Services health and safety policy will be continually monitored and updated, particularly when changes in the scale and nature of our operations occur. The policy will be reviewed every 12 months and revised as necessary. Signed

Karl Green June 2008

H&S POLICY/GMS

2

JUNE 2008

_______________________________________________________________________________________

HEALTH & SAFETY POLICY REVIEWS Reviews of the Health and Safety Policy shall be carried out annually in August each year. The Managing Director will conduct the reviews. Review Date JUNE 2008 JUNE 2009 (R Dobson K Green)

H&S POLICY/GMS

Comments FIRST ISSUE

3

JUNE 2008

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Organisation The person with overall and final responsibility for health and safety within Greens Mechanical Services is the Managing Director. Greens Mechanical Services will endeavour to communicate to employees their commitment to safety and to ensure that employees are familiar with the contents of the company health and safety policy. Greens Mechanical Services communicates with its employees orally, in the form of directions and statements from supervisors, in writing, in the form of directives and this policy statement, and by example.

Responsibilities Managing Director (a) Initiate the company’s policy for the prevention of injury, ill health, damage and wastage; set targets for reduction of accident rates. (b) Administer the policy himself, or appoint a senior member of staff to do so. (c) Be aware of the requirements of current legislation and establish systems to monitor compliance. (d) Ensure that all levels of staff have undergone adequate and appropriate training. (e) Insist that safe working practices are regularly observed. (f) Institute proper reporting, investigation and costing of injury, ill health, damage and loss; promote action to preclude recurrence and initiate analysis to discover accident trends. (g) Reprimand any member of staff failing to satisfactorily discharge the responsibilities allocated to them. (h) Instigate liaison with external safety and health organisations; encourage the distribution of pertinent information throughout the Company. (i) Arrange for adequate resources and facilities to meet the requirements of the established policy. (j) Set a personal example.

H&S POLICY/GMS

4

JUNE 2008

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Supervisors/ Foremen/Person Responsible (a) Must familiarise themselves with the Company Health and Safety Policy. (b) Must ensure that all persons in their teams are competent to fulfil their duties/roles and are fully aware of any hazards that may affect them. (c) Must ensure that all such persons know what to do in the case of fire, explosion or any other hazardous circumstances. (d) Must ensure that all persons know the whereabouts of First Aid facilities. (e) Must ensure that supervision is available at all times, particularly where young or inexperienced workers are concerned. (f) Must investigate all accidents promptly to discover their cause and eliminate recurrences. (g) Must ensure that all machinery and equipment under their control is properly maintained and safe to use and that all safety devices are properly fitted and protective equipment is worn or used where appropriate. (h) Must ensure that all abrasive wheels are stored and housed correctly and are mounted only by authorised persons holding a valid certificate. (i) Must ensure that all defects or hazards reported to them are promptly reported to the appropriate person and rectified (j) Must seriously consider any representation about safety and health from employees, and report the matter to the Managing Director (k) Must ensure that any unsafe equipment under their control is withdrawn from service. (l) Shall enter details of any accident/incident reported to them in the Company accident book and report all incidents to the Managing Director.

H&S POLICY/GMS

5

JUNE 2008

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Company Employees (a) Use the correct tools and equipment for the job: use safety equipment and protective equipment supplied, e.g. ladders, safety helmets, goggles etc. (b) Keep tools in good condition. (c) Report any defects in plant or equipment, or any obvious health risks to the Supervisor/ Foreman/Person Responsible. (d) Develop a personal concern for safety and health – for themselves and for others. (e) Avoid improvisation that entails unnecessary risk. (f) Warn new operatives to site about known hazards. (g) Refrain from horseplay and abuse of the welfare facilities. (h) Suggest ways of eliminating hazards It is the policy of Greens Mechanical Services that no person under the age of eighteen shall work unsupervised on site whether our own employee or that of a sub-contractor.

H&S POLICY/GMS

6

JUNE 2008

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Arrangements If we are to build and maintain a healthy and safe working environment, cooperation between workers at all levels is essential. In view of the diversity of activities carried out by the Company a single set of arrangements is not deemed appropriate for all purposes. All employees are expected to co-operate with the management and to accept their duties under this Policy. Disciplinary action may be taken against any employee who violates safety rules or who fails to perform their duties under this policy. Employees have a duty to take all reasonable steps to preserve and protect the health and safety of themselves and all other people affected by the operations of the Company. Safety training is regarded as an indispensable ingredient of an effective health and safety programme. It is essential that every worker in the organisation be trained to perform his or her job effectively and safely. It is the opinion of the management of Greens Mechanical Services that if a job is not done safely then it is not done effectively. All workers will be trained in safe working practices and procedures prior to being allocated any new role. Training will include advice on the use and maintenance of personal protective equipment appropriate to the task concerned and the formulation of emergency contingency plans.

Incident Reporting Greens Mechanical Services view accident investigation as a valuable tool in the prevention of future incidents and in the event of an accident resulting in injury and/or damage a report will be prepared detailing: • The circumstances of the accident including photographs and diagrams wherever possible • The nature and severity of the injury and/or damage sustained • The identity of any eyewitnesses • The time, date and location of the incident • The date of the report All eyewitness accounts will be collected as near to the time of the accident as is reasonably practicable. Any person required to give an official statement has the right to have a solicitor or trade union representative present. All reports will be submitted to the Company solicitors who will advise on liability, proceedings and quantum of damages. The solicitors will then submit the report to the Company's insurance risk advisors for assessment. H&S POLICY/GMS

7

JUNE 2008

_______________________________________________________________________________________

First Aid A fully stocked first aid kit will always be available to site operatives. The location of first aid treatment/qualified first aiders on site and the location of the nearest Accident and Emergency department will be passed to all employees/subcontractors prior to commencement on site.

Work Equipment Greens Mechanical Services will endeavour to ensure that all equipment used in the workplace is safe and suitable for the purpose for which it is used. All workers will be provided with adequate information and training to enable them to use work equipment safely. The use of any work equipment, which could pose a risk to the well being of persons in or around the workplace, will be restricted to authorised persons.

Personal Protective Equipment. All workers who may be exposed to a risk to their health and safety while at work will be provided with suitable, properly fitting and effective personal protective equipment. All personal protective equipment provided by Greens Mechanical Services will be properly assessed prior to its provision. All personal protective equipment provided by Greens Mechanical Services will be maintained in good working order.

Manual Handling Operations Manual handling operations will be avoided, so far as is reasonably practicable, where there is a risk of injury. Where it is not possible to avoid manual handling operations an assessment of the operation will be made taking into account the task, the load, the working environment and the capability of the individual concerned. An assessment will be reviewed if there is any reason to suspect that it is no longer valid. All possible steps will be taken to reduce the risk of injury to the lowest level possible.

H&S POLICY/GMS

8

JUNE 2008

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Asbestos Greens Mechanical Services will consult all information related to possible Asbestos presence before any commencement of work. If any employee or subcontractor suspects they may have accidently disturbed what they think could be an Asbestos Containing Material they will stop work immediately, inform all other operatives in the direct vicinity and inform the Site Foreman/Manager.

Work at Height When planning for work at height Greens Mechanical Services will use the hierarchy of controls as stated under the Work at Height Regulations. We will attempt to avoid work at height where reasonably practicable. If this cannot be achieved we will assess the use of suitable work equipment with collective fall prevention. If the work dictates that we cannot use work equipment with collective fall prevention we will assess personal fall prevention/mitigation. As a last resort we will consider the use of ladders/stepladders only where there is justification for their use.

Hazardous Substances A risk assessment will be conducted of all work involving exposure to hazardous substances. The assessment will be based on manufacturers' and suppliers' health and safety guidance and our own knowledge of the work process. Greens Mechanical Services will ensure that exposure of workers to hazardous substances is minimised and adequately controlled in all cases. All workers who will come into contact with hazardous substances will receive comprehensive and adequate training and information on the health and safety issues relating to that type of work. Assessments will be reviewed periodically, whenever there is a substantial modification to the work process and if there is any reason to suspect that the assessment may no longer be valid.

H&S POLICY/GMS

9

JUNE 2008

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Risk Assessments/Safety Method Statements The risk assessment is the key part of the arrangements for safety. The assessment will be carried out by the Managing Director.

The risk

assessment involves a detailed analysis of the hazards associated with the tasks/project and the precautions taken to eliminate or reduce them. The document provides the basis for preparing a safety method statement when requested. The hazards and precautions are listed, and the individual(s) responsible for monitoring that precautions are taken will be named in any safety method statement required by a Principal Contractor or Client. This makes the Policy for Health and Safety a live document, and by apportioning the responsibility leaves no doubts about who is to control the various aspects of health and safety at site level and above.

Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 Greens Mechanical Services will mainly act as a Contractor as defined by the regulations but from time to time may also act as Principal Contractor. We will discharge our duties under the regulations affectively by utilising competent health and safety advice from our external consultants and by liaising with the Client, Designers, CDM Coordinator and Principal Contractor. Contractor: When acting as Trade Contractor we will fully cooperate with the Principal Contractor, adhere to all site rules and disseminate all health and safety information to our employees’/sub-contractors. Principal Contractor: When acting as Principal Contractor we will fully cooperate and consult with the Client, Designers, CDM Coordinator and all Trade Contractors. We will achieve this through: -creating a thorough construction phase plan based on the pre-construction information provided by the CDM Coordinator; -carrying out health and safety inductions for all operatives and visitors; -regularly meet with trade contractors and communicate all site health and safety information and also welcome feedback; -utilising our competent health and safety advice to ensure we are discharging our duties affectively. H&S POLICY/GMS

10

JUNE 2008